A Political Ecology of Neoliberal Multiculturalism: Social Inclusion and Market-Based Conservation in Indigenous Costa Rica (2012-2017)

This dissertation analyzes how indigenous populations are politically included by or excluded from different forms of market-based conservation practices being implemented by state agencies, NGOs and international financial institutions (IFIs), in two adjacent Costa Rican indigenous territories: the Talamanca-Bribri and the Talamanca-Cabécar Indigenous Reserves (TBIR and TCIR, respectively). More precisely, this thesis explores the interaction between these indigenous peoples and three green economy interventions oriented at conserving forest cover and biodiversity through: 1) the promotion of organic cacao production in agroforestry systems (AFS), 2) the financialization of forest carbon through payments of environmental services (PES) and 3) the design of new indigenous-minded forms of PES through REDD+.